When he was born in April of 1951, Ralph Dale Earnhardt’s future must have seemed preordained. With dirt track stock car legend Ralph Earnhardt as a father, Ralph Dale Earnhardt (who ultimately dropped the first name shared with his father) should have been fast in anything with four wheels, even from an early age. Sometimes driving talent is hereditary, and sometimes it’s earned over thousands of miles of sliding a race car through corners, breathing in clouds of dirt and brake dust. In the case of Dale Earnhardt, few will argue that the North Carolina driver earned every accolade with sheer determination.

As Humpy Wheeler recounts in his book, Growing Up NASCAR (written with Peter Golenbock), “I didn’t pay much attention to Dale then because he was all over the racetrack. I was sure he wasn’t going anywhere.” Referring specifically to 1971, when Wheeler invited Ralph Earnhardt to race at Concord Speedway and Dale tagged along, the statement could be applied to much of Dale Earnhardt’s early career. He quit school in the ninth grade to race, and found work as a mechanic to pay the bills. At age 17, Dale married his first wife, Latane Brown, who gave birth to a son (Kerry Earnhardt) when Dale was just 18. The following year the pair divorced, and in 1971 Earnhardt married his second wife, Brenda Gee. Brenda gave birth to a daughter, Kelley, in 1972, and a son, Dale Earnhardt Jr, in 1974, but the marriage fell apart within a year of the latter’s birth. With this much turmoil at home (possibly because of Earnhardt’s passion for racing), it’s easy to understand his lack of focus.

In 1973, Ralph Earnhardt died of a heart attack, and his father’s death hit 22-year-old Dale hard. Worse (from a financial perspective, anyway), racing cars and turning wrenches was not producing the kind of money that Dale needed to support a growing family, and for a time he seriously considered abandoning racing to work full-time as a mechanic. A call from Larry Rathgeb, then Manager of Chrysler’s Stock Car Programs, would change Earnhardt’s mind, quite possibly reshaping the face of modern stock car racing.

Rathgeb had a problem, and a young Dale Earnhardt was the solution. In the midst of developing a “kit car” Challenger that would allow customers to go short-track racing, Chrysler needed a driver with intimate knowledge of Concord Speedway’s challenging dirt surface. Dale Earnhardt came recommended for the job, and Rathgeb offered him $800 for two days worth of development testing on the kit car Challenger. That was a substantial amount of money for Earnhardt, who impressed Rathgeb with his natural ability to drive a race car on dirt. Though Chrysler couldn’t offer him a funded ride, Rathgeb did give him a much-needed boost in self confidence.

Earnhardt kept at it, racing locally and in NASCAR’s Cup Series where and when a ride presented itself. In 1975, he raced a single event in Charlotte, where he drove a Dodge for Ed Negre and delivered a 22nd-place finish from 33rd on the grid. In 1976, Earnhardt drove Chevrolets for Walter Ballard (in Charlotte) and Johnny Ray (in Atlanta), but failed to finish either race. He’d have another DNF at Charlotte in 1977 (this time driving for Henley Gray), but his luck would finally change in 1978.

Thanks to a deal brokered by Humpy Wheeler, Earnhardt landed a one-race drive with Will Cronkite at Charlotte, where he started 28th but managed to finish 17th. Impressed with Earnhardt’s driving, Cronkite brought him back to drive four more races in 1978, and Earnhardt managed to deliver a solid performance in each (including one seventh- place finish), despite the car’s obvious limitations. For the second-to-last race of the season, at Atlanta, Earnhardt drove for Rod Osterlund, delivering a fourth-place finish from a 10th-place start. More importantly, Earnhardt was rapidly gaining asphalt racing experience, something he’d lacked in the early part of his career.

Earnhardt drove exclusively for Osterlund in the 1979 season, missing four of the season’s 31 races with a broken collarbone. At Bristol, Earnhardt racked up his first Winston Cup win, while at Riverside, he delivered his first Winston Cup pole. By the end of the season, Earnhardt would follow up with pole positions at Richmond, Dover and North Wilkesboro, as well as podium finishes in Charlotte, Daytona, Nashville and Atlanta. His performance was good enough to place him seventh in the championship point standings, earning him “Rookie of the Year” honors as well.

Returning to Rod Osterlund’s team for the 1980 season, Earnhardt would capture his first of seven Winston Cup championships, becoming the only Winston Cup (or later, Nextel Cup and Sprint Cup) driver to follow a Rookie of the Year award with a championship in the following season. Earnhardt struggled in 1981 and left the team to join Richard Childress Racing when Osterlund sold his team to Jim Stacey in mid-season. Though winless, Earnhardt would still finish the 1981 season in the top 10.

For 1982, Earnhardt joined Bud Moore’s team, but his luck would go from bad to worse. After posting a win in the season’s sixth race, at Darlington, Earnhardt managed to achieve just three more podium finishes. Worse, he racked up 18 DNFs in 30 races, including a season-ending string of eight in a row following a podium finish at Darlington. As a result, Earnhardt would finish the season in 12th place, the worst Winston Cup points result of his career.

Things improved for 1983, but not by much, and his Bud Moore Ford still lacked the reliability needed to put up consistent results (although some would argue that Earnhardt was particularly hard on equipment, especially during longer races). Earnhardt failed to finish 13 of the season’s 30 races, but only two of the 13 DNFs were crash-related. He managed a pair of wins and three more podiums, helping him to finish the season in eighth place.

For 1984, Earnhardt returned to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), changing his fortune in the course of a single season. From 13 DNFs in 1983, Earnhardt failed to finish just two races in 1984, thanks in part to Childress’ ability to rein in Earnhardt’s enthusiasm (protecting the team’s equipment in the process). Progress showed in the form of two wins and six additional podiums, enabling Earnhardt to finish fourth in the championship. Earnhardt was also reunited with his number 3 at RCR, a symbol that would become as iconic as any in motorsports.

At RCR, Dale Earnhardt would go on to become the very face of NASCAR, earning Winston Cup Championships in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994. He racked up more wins than any other driver in the Winston Cup series in 1987, then repeated this in 1990. He’d represent the sport of stock car racing in the International Race of Champions (IROC) series, too, winning championships in 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2000. More importantly, he drew fans to tracks, turning stock car racing from a fringe motorsport to a mainstream spectacle, broadcast on television sets throughout the United States.

As the 1990s drew to a close, Earnhardt seemed to be posting fewer wins with each passing year. He was still a fierce competitor (living up to his “Intimidator” nickname), but couldn’t seem to put up the same number of wins, podiums and poles that he used to. That changed in 2000, when Earnhardt rallied to achieve two wins and nine podiums, putting him second in the championship points behind eventual winner Bobby Labonte. Just as detractors were ready to proclaim Earnhardt’s career over, the 49-year old driver had proven, once again, to be a competitor.

His legions of fans had high hopes for 2001 and Earnhardt didn’t disappoint, delivering a strong performance in the Budweiser shootout (where he finished second) and the Gatorade 125 races (where he finished third in the first race and second in the second race). It looked as if Earnhardt might win the season-opening Daytona 500, too, but it was not to be. On the final lap, Earnhardt’s number 3 Chevrolet was spun into the Turn 4 retaining wall in what appeared to be a relatively minor crash. Had Earnhardt’s harness not pulled loose, it may well have been; however, the subsequent failure of his car’s shoulder belts resulted in a fatal basal skull fracture. Dale Earnhardt was pronounced dead at 5:16 p.m. on February 18, 2001.

His death resulted in a major safety overhaul for NASCAR. The HANS (for Head and Neck Support) device, which would have prevented the very injury that killed Earnhardt, was mandated, and tracks ultimately installed energy-absorbing SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reducing) barriers to help dissipate energy in a crash. Richard Childress Racing unofficially retired the number 3 from NASCAR Cup competition, though symbolically it remains as popular as ever, still adorning the cars of Earnhardt’s many fans from coast to coast.

13 Responses to “Racing Heroes – Dale Earnhardt Sr.”

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was not out there to run 23rd, he was out there to win and you have to respect that. NASCAR hasn’t been the same since Dale passed. NASCAR has too many “riders” these days, guys who run 25th and tell us what a “great day” they had. If there is racing in heaven, I’m thinking The Good Lord has Dale driving his car.

Dale was not my favorite racer all the time, but he did keep me interested in the sport. His skills were unmatched. He signified an era where racing was just that, rubbing, in your face driving. Today, I watch a race or two a year now, the trucks interest me more. It seems to me that if you’re not a pretty, well spoken stud type of fellow, you don’t get much of a chance to race. Corporate big buck teams look for the marketing aspects, not so much for the skills. And I believe that is a problem. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few skilled drivers out there, it just feels like they are lacking the aggression of the old day of wanting the “WIN”.

Rest in Peace Dale. NASCAR has never been the same without the Intimidator. He and others like him made NASCAR fun. These days, it is no longer a real sport, and not as much fun to watch. I haven’t watched a single race in over 3 years, and I don’t miss it. When Dale died, so did the sport.

IT SEEMS TO ME , IT IS NOT THE SAME ANYMORE,YOU COULD PUT ANYONE IN THE 48 CAR AND THEY WILL WIN, IT IS FUNNY OF ALL THE CARS FROM HENDRICK MOTORS, THE 48 IS THE BEST, ARN’T THEY ALL BUILT FROM THE SAME SHOP ?????????????. ANT WAY DALE EARNHARDT IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE BEST THERE EVER WAS, THANK, R.I.P. # 3 DALE EARNHARDT.

Good article, but one correction, Earnhardt would have only driven in one Gatorade 125 in 2001, in fact drivers are only either in one or the other event, racing for a starting spot in the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt finished 3rd in the first race, his son Dale Jr. finished 2nd in the second race.